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Fear of Intimacy in Romantic Relationships During Emerging

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Fear of Intimacy in Romantic Relationships During Emerging Fear of Intimacy in Romantic Relationships During Emerging Adulthood: The Influence of Past Parenting and Separation- Individuation Submitted by Marianne Elizabeth Lloyd Bachelor of Behavioural Science Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) School of Social Sciences and Psychology Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development Victoria University August 2011 FEAR OF INTIMACY IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS Abstract Intimacy is a central component of romantic relationships with the development of a capacity for intimacy regarded as being one of the milestones of adulthood. Fear of intimacy has been defined as “the inhibited capacity of an individual, because of anxiety to exchange thoughts and feelings of personal significance with another individual who is highly valued” (Descutner & Thelen, 1991, p. 219). Although a number of studies have focused on fear of intimacy, there has been limited research on the factors that might influence fear of intimacy. Past experience in the parent-child relationship has been found to influence both the capacity to form romantic relationships and separation-individuation. Establishing a romantic relationship and leaving the parental home have both been identified as important markers of adulthood, however current Australian statistics indicate that, compared to previous decades, in the period of emerging adulthood (18-25 years) fewer individuals are involved in a romantic relationship and a higher percentage of young people are living at home with their parents. The relationship between these social trends and past parenting, separation- individuation and fear of intimacy has not been explored. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the influence of past parenting (perceived maternal care and overprotection), and separation-individuation on young adults’ fear of intimacy regarding heterosexual partner relationships. A further aim was to examine whether there were differences in separation-individuation according to living situation and partnership status. A sample of 134 unmarried heterosexual young adults (21-25 years) from the general population of metropolitan Melbourne participated in this study. They were recruited via ii FEAR OF INTIMACY IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS convenience and snowball sampling. All participants completed questionnaires regarding past maternal care, past maternal overprotection, separation-individuation and fear of intimacy. A model was proposed to explain fear of intimacy in heterosexual partner relationships and was tested using hierarchical multiple regression to determine the relative contribution of perceived maternal care, perceived maternal overprotection and separation-individuation. Results indicated that separation-individuation explained the most unique variance in fear of intimacy. The effect of perceived maternal care on fear of intimacy was partially mediated by separation-individuation. Hypotheses related to associations between fear of intimacy and perceived maternal care and fear of intimacy and separation-individuation were supported. As hypothesized participants who had left the parental home were more likely to be in a committed romantic relationship but hypotheses related to differences in separation- individuation according to living situation and relationship status were not supported. The results of the study were discussed in light of past research and limitations were identified. Suggestions for future research based on the current results were also provided. iii FEAR OF INTIMACY IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS Student Declaration “I, Marianne Elizabeth Lloyd, declare that the Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) thesis entitled Fear of Intimacy in Romantic Relationships: The Influence of Past Parenting and Separation-Individuation is no more than 40,000 words in length including quotes and exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, bibliography, references and footnotes. This thesis contains no material that has been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work”. Signature: Date: iv FEAR OF INTIMACY IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS Acknowledgements There are number of individuals whom I wish to thank, as without them this thesis would not have been possible. Firstly, much gratitude is extended to my Supervisor Professor Sandra Lancaster for her constant support throughout every process of this thesis. Thank you for all of your help and encouragement Sandra. Thank you to my participants who were generous enough to give up their time and fill out my questionnaire and thank you to those who helped me recruit. A very special thank you goes out to my family, particularly my mum and dad who I am eternally grateful for. Thank you for your love and support, as without it I would not have been able to accomplish this huge task. Thank you to my friends for providing some fun and distractions when necessary! To my wonderful fiancé Russell, thank you my love for standing by me and supporting me through the many ups and downs and encouraging me to strive for my dreams. I love you. Finally I would like to thank my canine companions both past and present, who brought me happiness and laughter when I needed it throughout this whole process. Thank you, Bryn and Freddie, Roger and Baxter and Bruno. v FEAR OF INTIMACY IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS Table of Contents 1 Literature Review ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The Importance of Emerging Adulthood for Young Adults .................................................. 3 1.3 Trends in Leaving Home Patterns ............................................................................................ 6 1.4 Trends in Partner Relationships ............................................................................................. 11 1.5 Leaving Home and the Development of Partner Relationships ........................................... 15 1.6 Past Relationship with Parents ................................................................................................ 17 1.7 Past Relationships with Parents and Romantic Relationships ............................................. 21 1.8 Separation- Individuation ........................................................................................................ 29 1.9 Gender Differences and Separation-Individuation ............................................................... 35 1.10 Separation- Individuation and Romantic Relationships ..................................................... 37 1.11 Intimacy and Romantic Relationships .................................................................................. 42 1.12 Fear of Intimacy ...................................................................................................................... 47 2 Rationale and Aims of the Present Study ......................................................................... 55 2.1 Rationale .................................................................................................................................... 55 2.2 Aims ........................................................................................................................................... 57 2.3 Proposed Model ........................................................................................................................ 57 2.4 Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................. 58 2.4.1 Direct pathways. .................................................................................................................. 58 2.4.2 Indirect pathways. ............................................................................................................... 59 2.4.3. Additional hypotheses. ....................................................................................................... 59 3 Method ................................................................................................................................. 61 3.1 Participants ............................................................................................................................... 61 3.2 Measures .................................................................................................................................... 61 3.2.1 Background and Demographic Questionnaire (see Appendix B). ...................................... 61 3.2.2 Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) (Parker et al., 1979) (see Appendix C). ...................... 61 3.2.3 Separation-Individuation Process Inventory (S-IPI) (Christenson & Wilson, 1985) (see Appendix D). ................................................................................................................................ 64 3.2.4 Fear of Intimacy Scale (FIS) (Descutner & Thelen, 1991) (see Appendix E). ................... 65 3.3 Procedure ................................................................................................................................... 66 3.4 Design and Statistical Analysis ...............................................................................................
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